Michelle
by SoAdorkable
Summary: Sometimes I pretend that you can hear me...sometimes I just let loose and prattle on about the most nonsensical things, imagining myself talking to you. But then my circuits buzz and I'm brought back to reality. Chelley. Spoilers.
1. 1

Sometimes I pretend that you can hear me.

I shout out at you as if you're standing right there, and sometimes I just let loose and prattle on about the most nonsensical things, imagining myself talking to you.

But then my circuits buzz and I'm brought back to reality.

A reality in which I'm alone.

All bloody alone.

"_SPAAAAAAAACE!"_

Oh, well except for that dolt.

"_Did you know it's "Bring Your Daughter to Work Day' tomorrow? Yes, yes. I know. Uh-huh. It would be nice to participate in that I suppose…Oh no no! That's not! That's not what I was suggesting! Absolutely not! I was just- I just-" His mumblings were only cut short by laugher on the other end of the receiver. He sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose, relieved that she actually wasn't mad at his words. _

"_Oh no. No, I have a ride. No need to come get me. Not at all. Jerry's taking me home. Yes, yes. Though it's sure to be a long ride, yes it is. All he talks about is space. Space this. Space that. Space space space…it gets bloody awful. He's dragging me to the new exhibit at the observatory next weekend, that's sure to be a long day.,. yes it is." The red head was moving about his office as he talked, shuffling papers, powering down computers, turn off lights. _

"_No, I'm positive you don't need to come get me. Completely positive! I'm positive, Michelle! Oops, sorry luv. Yes, yes I know. I know. Yes yes, if I'm not back in an hour, you can come round me up. Like a herd of cattle, that is. Though not as painful I hope…" The person on the other end laughed again, which send shivers up his spine, and surely turned his face an embarrassing shade of red._

_"All right then. I'll be home soon. Love you, bye."_

Let me tell you, when you're floating around in space, there's really only one thing you can do: Think. So I did. I thought a lot. I thought back to the past. And since a good portion of the past was spent roaming on management rails looking after the squishy humans, there was really only two things to remember: the before and the after.

The after…well that wasn't a very pleasant thing to remember most of the time. Sometimes I thought of the good. When the girl and I roamed through the facility, hacking doors and plotting to take _her_ over. Those were good times to remember. Very good times. Times when I had a…a friend. Finally someone to talk to after years upon years of talking to myself. Albeit, she couldn't exactly talk back –brain damage is a nasty thing-,but she always listened. Never shut me up, never found my words annoying or idiotic, always listened.

Most of the time, though, my memory chip brings me back to the bad. The moment the core transfer began was when things took a turn for the worst. I recall with perfect clarity the look on her face as I lowered the elevator back down, wondering why they had to leave so soon. Once the corruption began, and I started hating her so intensely. Then there was that blasted Itch, that hurt so bad it drove me to try and murder the one person who actually gave a hoot, who I actually lo- ARG! Short circuit, what was I talking about? Ah yes, I remember, boy do I…

Though there are times that I try to remember the past. Now, it's a peculiar thing, my memory bank. Usually, it begins the moment that I was first activated. But…sometimes there are these…flashes….flashes of memories that I never knew I had, that I thought they'd programmed out of me long ago…

_The man whistled a tune as he looked around his office, making sure everything was right for the next day. In actuality, his office was a mess, but it was a kind of organized chaos that only few could decipher, much like him._

_He stepped out of the room and locked the door, briefcase in hand, and headed on to his friend's office, knocking twice upon arrival._

"_Hello? Is anyone in there?" He shouted at the doorway in his standard greeting, and opened it once he'd gotten a small reply from the other side to come in. _

"_Ready to ride of into the sunset? Wait, wait a minute. Jerry? Why the long face? What's wrong buddy? Did they close the exhibit? It's okay, I'm sure there'll be other o-…Mr. Johnson? What are you doing here, si-sir? Wait, what's going on here? What's going on he-" _

_The briefcase fell to the floor._

Though the flashes disappear as quickly as they come, and I'm left baffled and disoriented, with almost completely no memory of them again. Though some things are sticking, some are coming back…

I know this wasn't always me. I was a personality not enclosed in a metal shell, not confined to a management ramp, not a core. And I wasn't always such a…moron, either. No, they made me like that. I used to be smart, I think.

Sometimes I roll my optic towards the Earth and look out. And did you know sometimes, I could swear I see you? But then I realize that it's just a piece of bloody space dust that looks like your brown hair. And it eats at my wires constantly when I realize that I'll probably never see you again.

Never get to apologize to you, for everything.

For the betrayal.

For the lies.

For the murder.

Did you know Chell is short for Michelle?

You hated being called Michelle.

_How do I know that?_

**So this is my first shot at a Portal fic. Did I do allright? I finished Portal 2 on Saturday, and it's hands down the best video game I've played. I love love love Wheatley, and as soon as I was done with the game, my mind began building a backstory for him. This is part of that. Parts might come later, if you guys would like and if I feel motivated enough to continue. **

**Thanks for reading. (: **


	2. 2

**Here's the next chapter. Beware, it a bit of a sad one.**

**Disclaimer I do not own any of VALVe's characters.**

**Note: I know that some things in this story don't quite match up with what happened in the actual canon story (ie; Chell was a child at the time of Bring Your Daughter to Work Day). I can't stay completely canon to tell this story, or Wheatley would've been married to a child, which is weird.**

**Also, this story is being told out of order, so don't get confused by the sudden jump back.**

* * *

><p>"Begin procedural log…time is 10:21 p.m…. heading up the procedure is myself, Dr. Laurel, with my assistant, Austin Marks. Procedure title: IDS personality alterations." A scientist spoke into a tape recorder before setting it on the desk to record.<p>

"Why do we need to alter the personality, again boss? I thought this one was chosen as the IDS due to his fitting of the requirements."

"He was, but some things still need to be altered, it's not perfect yet. The scientist we got the personality from is only the beginning."

"Ah, I see." The inactive core was clamped down by two metal clamps to keep it from rolling away, and a bright light was shone on it to shed light on it's inner mechanics, which were visible through the unscrewed opening in the back.

"This will be the first time it's being powered on since the transfer procedure…powering on now…" The optic glowed to life behind it's metal lids, and the core spoke for the first time.

"Argg…what is thi- FORMATTING DRIVE NOW- what the…? What's going o-" It was cut off as it's drive formatted, it's body letting out a series of clicks and whirrs as it's new machinery was tested. "FORMATTING COMPLETE." It said in a mechanical voice. The two working on the procedure waited for the core to settle into it's new body.

The optic opened a crack, looking around slowly. It opened wider, looking around, highly confused. "What is this…? What happened? What's going on here? Last I remember, I…" It's optic widened and it realized the predicament it was in. "No. N-No, that can't be…I…I'm…" It's optic flashed to the two in the room, suddenly noticing their presence. "You! What have you done to me! You monsters! What have you done?" It cried out in a mixture of anger and fear.

The scientist sighed, rolling in his wheeled chair to the back of the machine. The assistant gave an uneasy look at the now freaking out core and stepped behind it as well. "Let's begin." The doctor said, putting on magnifying glasses and grabbing the necessary tools.

The core was remembering everything that happened right up to him waking up there. His processors froze, however, when he remembered an errant sentence from one of his last conversations.

_Yes yes, if I'm not back in an hour, you can come round me up._

He never came home that night.

Which means she went looking for him.

She, who probably knew entirely too much about what they were doing at Aperture, from what he'd told her.

No.

"My…my wife. My wife! What have you done with her?" The core shouted while trying to thrash madly in it's metal restraints. The scientist sighed, clearly annoyed as the sphere's thrashing was preventing him from doing what he needed to do.

"Austin, power the IDS down to 50%. It'll be able to talk to us but it won't have enough power to move itself around like that."

"Yes, sir."

"You monsters, answer me! What have you done with my wife? What have you…" The sphere trailed off as it's power was decreased, leaving it feeling sluggish and half there. It's optic drooped closed and it stopped moving around. "What have you…done with my…wife?" It asked softly, finding the words difficult to get out now.

"Altering memory chip now." All was silent as the scientist tinkered around with the core's memory chip. "Who were you talking about just now?" The scientist asked the sphere.

"I was talking about…uh…h-her…I was talking about her…my w-"

"Altering memory chip." The doctor cut the sphere off, not really caring what the it said after that. "Shine the light over here, where I'm working Austin." The core let out a few winces as it's memory was altered, leaving it confused and disoriented. "Who were you talking about just now?" He asked again.

"I…was talking about…I-I…don't remember…" The optic spoke out, feeling as though it just lost something great, but having no clue what.

"What's the earliest thing you remember?" The scientist asked, hand poised over his memory chip.

"Erm…I…I woke up here, right? And I was shouting about…something, I don't remember…" The sphere stuttered out, wishing it could open up it's optic and look around.

"Good." The Dr. Laurel commented. "Memory chip alteration complete. Moving onto logic and thinking chip. This will need to be altered a lot." He said aside to the assistant, low enough that the core couldn't hear, "He was a scientist here before, a shame he was picked for this core, all those years of schooling to do what he did will be lost…ah, well, it's in the name of science, as Mr. Johnson says…er, said."

The assistant looked uneasily. He was relatively new at Aperture and still uncomfortable with the methods the company used to create it's AIs. It made him wonder back to the wavier he signed when he began working there, and why he didn't bother to read the fine print…"Sir, why do we need to alter his logic and intelligence?"

"Well, to fulfill what the IDS was made for. Didn't they brief you on the core before you were put on the project?"

"I asked, but they told me it was classified."

The scientist reached over and snapped off the tape recorder, "Oh, well, I'll let you in on a little bit of it, but you have to keep your trap shut. This core is designed to be completely stupid. It's primary function will be to dumb the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System down, so it will be stupid enough to stop trying to kill us whenever we activate it." The assistant nodded at in understanding at what his boss was saying. _Poor guy…_ He thought about the sphere, though he knew he'd be fired if he ever said it out loud.

"Allright, back to work." With a press of a button, the recorder was back on. "Beginning logic and intelligence alterations." The Dr. Laurel spoke into the tape recorder. "IDS, can you please explain to me how one would go about hacking into a standard computer to obtain information?"

"Well, to begin to go about that…first you'd have to run a vulnerability scan to…determine the weaknesses in the computer system's firewall and other ways that it's security can be exploite-" The sphere shut off and let out a groan when it felt it's inner hardware being tinkered with. "What are you…doing…ah, ah…stop, stop…" It whined, feeling thoughts slipping away from him, becoming inaccessible.

"IDS, can you please explain to me how one would go about hacking into a standard computer to obtain information?" Dr. Laurel repeated, testing to see what the new answer would be.

"Well…erm, I suppose you could…you could…first look at the security…of the computer…determine where things could be, well, hacked, and then you could run some kind of programs that would, well, hack it…." The IDS rambled, sounding a little more jumbled and baffled after the alterations. The scientist once again began tinkering with the core's hardware.

Austin Marks stared at the ground, feeling guilt for letting his superior essentially erase this man. _But he's not a man anymore, is he? They took that from him…he's…just a machine now…_ Austin thought, ashamed. He was almost glad the optic couldn't open, he was sure he wouldn't be able to meet it.

"IDS, can you please explain to me how one would go about hacking into a standard computer to obtain information?" Dr. Laurel asked a third time.

For the first time, the core was at a complete loss for what to say. For almost a minute all he let out were a series of 'hmm's and 'umm's. Finally it spoke, "First, I suppose, you would, um, well…try hacking the password for the system…"

"And what would be your method for trying at passwords?"

"Hmm…tough one, tough one…I would definitely start out with A A A…er,..A…A…and if that somehow doesn't work, I'd try A A A A…D, I suppose." It spoke, a little confidence in its voice as it finished, beginning to feel that his answer was right.

Dr. Laurel let out a low chuckle and pat the sphere a few times, "Good job. It's perfect. IDS complete, estimated working time about 2 hours and 15 minutes. Core is ready for attachment onto the GLaDOS unit." The scientist shut off the tape recorder, setting it aside to be entered into the record later.

Austin's guilt was starting to eat at him. He heard how intelligent and smart the core was upon first activation. It, he…he even had a wife before that. What if they had kids? A whole life, destroyed, taken, and from what he gathered…against his will. The assistant grabbed the chart for the IDS's human component, looking at it and seeing that he didn't, in fact, have any kids.

"Huh," Austin said with a chuckle as Dr. Laurel was deactivating the core, "His chart says that people used to call him Wheatley,"

"Wheatley…" The core mumbled almost inaudibly before it's blue glow faded and it shut down.

"Hey! Don't touch that!" The scientist shouted. The assistant closed the file quickly, looking down in embarrassment.

"Sorry sir, I-I-"

"It's all right. Inquisitive, young minds, what can you do?" The scientist let out a hearty chuckle and clapped Austin on the shoulder before turning to his desk to shut down the computer and put away the tools.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did happen to his wife when she came looking for him?"

"Ah, nothing much. Put her through some tests to determine her abilities as a test subject, but from what I hear she was rejected. She'll be put in a relaxation vault till they need her, whenever that is." The scientist turned back to his assistant and stared for a few seconds. A strange glint grew in his eye.

"Hey, since you're so curious about things, I have a special assignment for you. A promotion of sorts. If you will, Mr. Marks, please follow me to the medical ward…" And the scientist led his very uneasy assistant through Aperture's facility towards a fate that was clearly outlined in the seventh clause of his signed, mandatory wavier.


	3. 3

Things in space got boring really quickly. It was cold and too bloody massive.

Hope was a bleak thing that he was sure he'd left back in the facility, with her.

It was possibly the only thing from that world that he could cling onto anymore.

So he did.

Tightly.

Figuratively speaking, of course.

He tried to tell himself that he would get out of there, one day. That he would get back to Earth, and find her, and re-do it all. Make it all right. Apologize.

Even though it was completely irrational and highly impossible, he liked to toy with the idea that she would wait for him.

He wasn't quite sure how long humans lived, but he figured he had time.

She waited 99999 years for him to wake her. Surely she would wait 99999 more?

He liked to think she would.


	4. 4

Steam.

Oh, how she missed steam.

How it looked, how it weaved it's way through the air towards the sky, before disappearing completely. The way it's heat tickled your face in the lightest way.

Yes, she missed a lot in her time underground, but at the moment, as she leaned her face over her warm cup of coffee and breathed the steam in, she missed steam the most.

The woman picked up her coffee mug and took a large sip, drinking almost half in one gulp in an effort to wake up. The faster she woke up, the quicker she could forget about her dreams.

The dreams that plagued her every night for the past four months.

Dreams about abandoned facilities and overgrown science projects.

Dreams about the one place she was desperate to forget, but at the same time was clinging onto.

Shaking her head, she downed the rest of the coffee and rubbed her eyes, looking out the window in front of her kitchen. The sun was just rising, giving the sky an appearance of looking dark and light at the same time. A glance over at the clock told her that she needed to get ready for her shift waitressing at the diner soon, if she wanted to make the rent for her apartment on time.

It was hard at first to get adjusted to normal life, but being a quitter was never an option. She soon secured a job, and soon afterwards the apartment. It was strange though, being out in the real world. Things were different now. Lime colored walls instead of antiseptic white. Fresh air instead of recycled. Warmth. Life. For her, the facility had become her norm. It was all she knew. It was all she remembered.

Well, almost.

Weeks after she'd escaped, bits and pieces of whatever was left of her memory returned slowly. Red hair, a muffled voice, a warm touch. Smiles.

Around then was when the nightmares started too.

They were roughly the same, with some variation. Running. She was running, frantically. It was late into the night, she just knew it was. And she was trying to get somewhere, but grew no closer despite her efforts. As she ran, voices swirled around her, their words both familiar and not.

"_Change of plans, hold on to me! Tighter! TIGHTER!"_

"…_like a heard of cattle, that is…"_

"_GRAB ME GRAB ME GRAB ME!" _

The woman absentmindedly looked up to the sky out of her kitchen window. Sighing, she slid her eyes back down to her now empty cup, tracing the rim with her finger.

The next sound she heard scared her more than anything had in four months.

It sounded like lightning, almost. A kind of thud in the sky, like it was being ripped in two. She stiffened and stood out of habit, though loosened when she realized the sound was far away, but strangely enough right around where…

Her thought was cut off as she realized that something was falling from the sky.

She scooted around her table and walked straight to the window, pressing her face up against it and squinting to get a better look. Whatever it was was falling through the sky in a spectacular display of fire and smoke. She couldn't get that close of a look at the object, it was going too fast and was concealed by smoke. But if she looked closely, she could almost see a-

The woman gasped as her thoughts were cut for the second time that day.

As something flashed in her eye for the tiniest of a second.

As something caused her to fill with both anger and relief.

As something brought her back to the days of secret plans, hacking doors, of a secret friendship turned deadly.

A blue light.

Touching down right near where she'd escaped from the facility.

She knew there was a reason she'd chosen the apartment with this view.


	5. 5

The prospect of death had always terrified him.

In a past that seemed like it was too long ago, if someone told him he would die if he did something, he made sure that he didn't do it.

In a past that he couldn't seem to think of now, his number one goal was to avoid death. The hide from the big show. To avoid the final curtain call.

Now…it didn't seem too bad.

It hurt at first, _bloody hell _did it hurt. But now…he was drifting. Numb. There were things going on around him, movements and noises, but he couldn't and didn't seem to care.

Burst of thought flowed through his processors lazily, droning out the clock that told him how much time was left until the system failure shutdown.

There were hands on him. Warm, stroking his casing and drawing him deeper into his sleepy state. His optic lid twitched as well as his optic, but both were long past the point of being functional ever again. The warm feeling was nice, he thought fleetingly, much nicer than the cold of spa-

A stinging thought shook him, bringing him as close to lucidity as he could get in his state.

Trying to focus, he forced his damaged vocal processors to utter what he needed to say, hoping that it was heard, that it was understood, that someone would bloody pass it along.

A soft sigh flowed through his auditory receptors, all the confirmation he needed. Reassured him that even though he was going, even though this was the final curtain call, and things might not be terribly great, at least now…at least now she'd know.

Know that the monster that had tried to kill her was on his way out, and that it was okay.

Know that the metal ball who'd woken her up was _sorry_, sorry that he'd even come upon her, that he'd ever wrapped her up in the chaos that was his primary programming.

Comforted by this, he slipped away, and was gone.


	6. 6

It couldn't be.

There was no way.

There was no way that that could be it. That it could be _him_.

It was a meteor. Just a hunk of space junk at the bottom of a crater, covered in dirt.

Yes, it had to be that.

That's what it was.

Only…there was one problem.

It was groaning.

Setting her jaw, she didn't allow her mind to second guess as she slid into the crater, using her long fall boots as breaks one she came to the bottom. Standing, she circled the lump of junk warily. The voice it made was comparable to that of a dying animal. But one that was put into a computer. It was making various whirrs and clicks, and the voice was disorted and choppy.

Pained.

_No. _The logical part of her screamed. _Remember what he did._

"I-I-Is so-so-some-…th-there-ere?" The voice sputtered, causing her to jump. That voice. A voice that ripped it all back up onto the surface.

"I he-heard fo-o-otsteps…Iknowi-i-it…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to think past the voice and the desperation clinging to it. Was this really a good idea? Was this really what he deserved?

"…I-If a-anyone-If anyo-one is there…"

_Fatty. Adopted fatty._

"…do-do-do you think ma-aybe you could-d-d-d…"

_I loathe you. I despise you. _

"…p-p-pi-pick meup?"

_You arrogant, smugly quiet, awful, jumpsuited MONSTE-_

__"…P-P-P-Please?"

Cursing her own, weakness, she brushed the dirt away from what used to be one of his handles and pulled him from the ground.

The sight of him made her cringe, not only because of the memories associated, but how _broken_ he looked. Not an inch of his casing went without a dent. His handles bent in awkward ways, resembling a broken accordion. Sparks flew from his wiring which was also severely mangled, some wires sticking out from odd place in his optic and sides.

She realized that he must have some sort of nerve simulators, for he let out a slight shudder once her arms slid around his casing, almost cradling him against her stomach. What little blue that shone from his optic flickered unevenly and his next words were so slight that they were almost carried away by the wind.

"Th-Thank you-ou-ou…"

The blue light flickered one last, spectacular shade of blue, and faded to grey.


	7. 7

It was odd.

The whole situation was pretty odd.

Not that she was complaining.

But she couldn't figure out what was the oddest of it all.

Maybe it was that she had the fireplace running in the middle of the summer.

Maybe it was strange, out of place feeling she got once her bare feet slid out of the long fall boots and touched the bare floor.

Or maybe it was the fact that the lanky, shivering man hovering over the fireplace hadn't even been a man three hours ago.

Maybe it was just a combination of the three.


	8. 8

His optic turned wildly, looking from her, to Her, then back.

His handles were shaking microscopically. He thought maybe if he were still enough, maybe, just maybe, She wouldn't see him. That he'd live.

There had never been another moment where he'd felt so exposed, so scared, so _betrayed._

His thoughts voiced themselves, as per usual, but he'd never felt so small, so insignificant, so disposable, in that moment. His words went unnoticed.

"You know her?"

* * *

><p><strong>The next one will be long.<strong>

**I promise.**


	9. 9

"You've got a lot of gall, sneaking around here in the dead of night, young lady. Just what were you doing?

No answer, eh? That's okay, you'll talk soon.

Or…maybe you won't have to. See, our security caught you doing all the talking already. Next time you shout someone's name all over the premises, you might want to be a little more careful.

Do you know what this is, miss? This is a confidentiality agreement. And right there, down at the bottom, in blue ink, is your husband's John Hancock.

Now, you might be wondering why I'm bringing this up, and why this relates to you? Well, for some reason, your idiot of a husband thought it would be a good idea to share with you very confidential things about our company, including security codes to get in. I think you can do the math here, you look like a moderately smart young lady. He is-er, was, in direct violation of the confidentiality agreement.

Now, I would have him terminated immediately and possibly even prosecuted, but…he's just received a bit of a promotion. A big honor around here, and he's a bit…tied up with that, at the moment.

So that leaves you: The wife who knows a little too much about things that her idiot husband wasn't smart enough to know to keep a secret. You sure know how to pick 'em, I see.

Hm…so let's see here…Project Mantis is full, and the trials for organ vitrification have already begun…So that leaves you with…no where. You've got nowhere. We can't let you leave; yet we don't run a charity house. It's not like we can just keep you…ah. No, no wait, I've got it. Let me see if we…yes! There's an opening. You're in luck, miss; we've got spots left here.

It'll just be a quick physical and then you'll be set! Have you even wondered what it's like to die, miss? Oh! Don't look at me like that; we're not going to kill you. But it'll be like…like being alive and dead at the same time. Who knows, maybe you'll see your husband? Hah. I'm joking, of course.

But someone will have to open the box."


	10. 10

Grey was really the only accurate word to describe it.

She said his body would readjust.

She promised that he'd be the same old moron he was as a core.

But she knows that She doesn't only lie when she's nervous.

He was sick almost constantly, a weak, pale mess of limbs and bulging eyes and purple lips. He wheezed into the cup of tea that his stomach refused to keep down, and stared out the window in a haze.

She watched, disillusioned, as the core-no, the _man_ she knew ceased to be himself anymore, merely a shivering mess that crumpled wherever it was left.

Who knew a body could react so badly to having a person inside of it?

One morning, a particularly rainy one, she sat in the living room, left to her thoughts as he slept through the early hours. There had to be something she could do. A quick glance at her long fall boots and she decided that _that_ just wouldn't be an option.

…But that's what She'd always wanted, wasn't it?

_She_ knew exactly what body he was being transferred into.

_She _was expecting her to return, to beg, to plead for it to be all taken back.

Stubborn as she was, she didn't rule it out completely.

A thump to her left brought her out of her thoughts, and she was surprised to find him awake, leaning on the doorframe nevertheless, and expression surprisingly bright, eyes a familiar crystal blue.

"C-C-Can we go outside?"

A weary glance out the window at the rain and she was just about to protest, but his tone, the urgency in it, made her realize that she had to.

She couldn't deny him his last request.


	11. 11

"Hey! Hey! Michael! Michael!" The core sped on his rail, trying to catch up to the man who, strangely enough, seemed to be speeding away from him. He was probably just in a hurry to get lunch! All the good lunch products could go quickly! "Wait! Wait! Michael wait for me!"

The man stopped, seemingly giving up. With a sigh, he turned and gave a very tired look upwards. "What is it, IDS? I-"

"Wheatley!"

He rolled his eyes, obviously not amused with the core's attempt to find an identity. "Whatever. You know I don't have that long of a lunch break. I told you not to talk-"

"I know, I know! But I had a question! Real quick! Really quick question! Won't take more than a moment!"

Michael sighed. "No, not all humans are smelly."

"Th-They aren't? But, ah, n-no! That's not what I, um, want to ask you! Just really quick. Really quick question, please?"

The IDS jumped as the man started to tap his foot. Oh, how he hated to see that! It meant the humans weren't happy! He saw it quite a bit. They must be working so hard that it gets frustrating sometimes…"IDS, _what?"_

"Oh! Well, um, I was just wondering…what's that shiny thing? On your hand there?" The man looked surprised as he pointed to the gold band on his finger.

"This? It's…my wedding band. Why?"

"Oh! Wedding! I know what those are!" The core rotated on its rail proudly. "So that's your wife? The picture, on-on your desk?"

"Yes…IDS, if you're just going to ask these meaningless questions you can ask one of the inte-"

"Do you love her?"

"What?"

"Do you love her? You know, love! Humans do it?"

"…Yes. Yes, I love her very much."

The IDS' body moved up and down, "nodding". "Aw, that's marvelous, just grand, really. You know, I was imagining what it'd be like to have a lass and-"

"You were what?"

"I was imaging how things would be i-"

"When was this?" Michael's brow furrowed and he looked critically up at the core. The core wriggled slightly at the gaze. Was Michael mad? Oh no! Did he do something wrong? He scooted around on his rail jerkily, trying to explain himself.

"No-No I-I it wasn't um it wasn't d-during work hours! I-I wasn't doing it during work! I-I-It was after you'd all left for the night!"

"I thought they were putting you on low power at night?" The man quickly looked at a clipboard, scanning over notes.

"Th-They said I could stay awake! I-I told them that being in low power s-scared me. And they said I was being good! So we could try it! I didn't touch anything, or do anything bad! Didn't know if you knew this, mate, but night is _terribly_ long. So I just sort of started to dream that-"

"Dream? You can't dream."

"Well, not like human dreaming! Obviously, that's a laugh. Like I'd dream like a smelly human. N-No offense! B-But I just sort of, um, I just sort of did it while I was awake. Just in my processors, kind of awake-dreaming."

Michael sighed. Again? This problem was becoming out of hand. He knew spending time around humans would be bad for the core, but no one listened. "You remember what we told you about that."

"Y-Yeah, I know, but but _but_ I wasn't touching anything or braking anything a-a-and it didn't seem to be hurting anyone so I just thought I could!"

"IDS. Didn't anyone ever tell you?" The man got real close to his optic and lowered his voice, like he was going to tell a secret. Finally! People were starting to trust him around here! He knew he was doing things right! Except for that little mishap with the welding machine, he was doing his job pretty good! He was helping!

Excited, he leaned in as well. "What, what?!"

"If you do that…" The man leaned back, eyes wide and expression grave. "You will DIE."

The core gasped. "No! I don't want to die! I don't want to! I-I didn't mean to do it oh please don't please don't _I don't want to die_." His optic closed tightly and he began quivering, the epitome of scared.

"I think…I think there's still time. I think we can save you! You just have to promise never _ever_ to do it again."

"Oh, oh I promise I definitely promise just please don't let it kill me!"

"You promised, now you're safe." The core let out a huge sigh. Narrowly escaped death there!

"Oh, thank goodness. That was a close one there, mate. You really got my back! Metaphorically speaking. Thank you! Thank you so much!" The core widened its optic in gratitude. The man stared for a moment, looking a little…sad? He was probably just sad that he'd almost lost his smartest core!

"You're welcome. Now go back to work. I'll be back after break."

"You've got it, mate!" The core turned and began to wheel back towards its post, sighing in relief. He opened up his notes file and made a note that imagining was very bad. "There. Phew, mistake I'll _never_ make again."


End file.
